Rece Davis, Booger McFarland give high praise for Notre Dame: 'I expect them to run the table'

Since starting the year 0-2 with losses to Miami and Texas A&M, Notre Dame finds itself in the midst of a five-game win streak. But with other top teams suffering losses, the Fighting Irish are moving up the rankings – and ESPN’s Rece Davis and Booger McFarland see a path to the College Football Playoff if they “run the table.”

Notre Dame lost its season opener against Miami by three points and the Week 2 game against Texas A&M by one point in the final seconds. Since then, the Irish have won every game by 10 or more points, most recently taking down USC in the Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh last week.

As a result, Davis argued Texas A&M’s win over Notre Dame is the best in the country. That speaks to what he thinks of Marcus Freeman’s group.

“Another team that we haven’t mentioned that, I’m just gonna tell you, I think they’re one of the five or six best teams in the country: Notre Dame,” Davis said Tuesday on ESPN’s College Football Playoff preview show. “I would contend that Texas A&M’s win at Notre Dame – [by] one point, basically on the last play of the game – is in the argument, if not the winning argument, for the best win of the season.”

Led by a two-headed monster in the backfield with Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, Notre Dame’s offense ranks 21st in the nation with 421 total yards per game. Additionally, the defense ranks sixth in the country with 15 takeaways.

As McFarland assessed Notre Dame’s 27-24 and 41-40 losses in the first two weeks, he thinks the CFP committee will wind up rewarding the Fighting Irish for those matchups. Based on what he’s seen, he thinks Notre Dame has a clear opportunity to go 10-2.

“We’re going to look at Notre Dame’s struggle early on – Miami and Texas A&M – and say, ‘Man, those two games that they lost early on, we’ve got to hold that against them,'” McFarland said. “But in a day and age where it’s not necessarily how you play, it’s who you play, I think Notre Dame is going to get rewarded for those games. But we came into this season talking a lot about potential – Texas, Clemson, LSU – I’m about actuality. I’m about teams that know who they are. And one thing about Notre Dame, they know who they are. They’re a running football team. Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, a physical offensive line, CJ Carr is coming along. They have an identity, they understand who they are.

“They’ve got five games left. Not only are they going to be favored in those five games, I’m would go out to say they’re going to be handsomely favored in those five games. I expect them to run the table. A 10-2 Notre Dame, a physical team that understands who they are, with an ascending quarterback, they’re going to be a team that no one wants to play.”